{"id":99430,"date":"2025-08-28T20:54:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T20:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/99430\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T20:54:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T20:54:22","slug":"20-bikes-stolen-from-french-pro-cycling-team-in-second-huge-raid-by-thieves-at-a-race-this-week-after-bosses-call-for-squads-to-hire-real-security-guards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/99430\/","title":{"rendered":"20 bikes stolen from French pro cycling team in second huge raid by thieves at a race this week \u2013 after bosses call for squads to hire \u201creal security guards\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

TotalEnergies have become the latest professional cycling team to fall victim to organised bike thieves, after 20 of the squad\u2019s bikes were stolen on Wednesday night during a stage race in France, just days on from Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s truck being targeted in a similar raid which saw 18 bikes taken at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The French ProTeam are currently racing at the Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine, a four-day stage race in the west of France, where they won on the opening day in La G\u00e9n\u00e9touze, courtesy of Jason Tesson, who currently sits third on the general classification.<\/p>\n

\"TotalEnergiesTotalEnergies ENVE bikes (credit: Team TotalEnergies)<\/p>\n

However, ahead of Thursday\u2019s third stage, a 27.3km time trial between Chauvigny and Jardres, TotalEnergies published a statement confirming that the team was targeted by thieves overnight, leading to the theft of 20 of their ENVE bikes.<\/p>\n

In a post on social media, the team, which contains double Tour de France stage winner Pierre Latour, said it was \u201cthe victim during the night of the theft of 20 bicycles on the sidelines of the Tour Poitou-Charentes. Despite this incident, the team will indeed take the start of the time trial today.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is currently unclear which bikes were taken in the raid, or whether all of the team\u2019s bikes, including their time trial machines, were stolen.<\/p>\n

\"PierrePierre Latour, stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France (Alex Whitehead\/SWpix.com) (credit: road.cc)<\/p>\n

However, the team\u2019s service course, an old chateau in Essarts-en-Bocage, containing its spare bikes and equipment, is only a two-hour drive from the start of the time trial in Chauvigny, perhaps explaining the squad\u2019s certainty that they will be able to continue the race.<\/p>\n

It is not yet known whether TotalEnergies\u2019 riders will be forced to race today\u2019s time trial on regular road bikes.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time that TotalEnergies have been the target of bike thieves at a race. At last year\u2019s Tour de France, 11 of their Enve bikes and tools were taken ahead of stage 12, including the main bike of Anthony Turgis<\/a>, who had won the race\u2019s ninth stage just days before.<\/p>\n

It was estimated the value of the bikes stolen was around \u20ac150,000, with TotalEnergies using Enve\u2019s Melee model at the race, but the team\u2019s manager Jean-Ren\u00e9 Bernaudeau suggested at the time that, value aside, the loss of tools was \u201cespecially annoying\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of the game, it\u2019s a bit annoying but it doesn\u2019t bother the riders,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have stock. It\u2019s especially annoying for the toolboxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TotalEnergies'TotalEnergies’ Anthony Turgis at Tour de France (ASO\/Billy Ceusters) (credit: road.cc)<\/p>\n

But despite TotalEnergies\u2019 assurances this morning that they are able to carry on at the Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine as planned, the mass theft \u2013 the second to hit a major bike race in four days \u2013 will only add to growing security concerns within the sport.<\/p>\n

In the early hours of Monday morning, Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s truck was raided with a pickaxe and 18 bikes, worth an estimated \u00a3220,000, were stolen<\/a> from the grounds of their hotel on the outskirts of Turin, where the Dutch team was staying during the opening Italian stages of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

According to Visma-Lease a Bike CEO Richard Plugge, several of the stolen machines were later found abandoned in nearby bushes, though most of them remain missing.<\/p>\n

The squad, led by pre-race favourite and current Vuelta leader Jonas Vingegaard, were able to start Monday\u2019s stage between San Maurizio Canavese and Ceres, after mechanics from Lidl-Trek and Movistar \u2013 who were also staying at the same hotel \u2013 rallied to help.<\/p>\n

\"SeppSepp Kuss, Visma-Lease a Bike, stage two, 2025 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a (credit: Zac Williams\/SWpix.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really with severe violence that they opened the truck, because it\u2019s almost impossible to open. So for us it was a big shock this morning when we woke up. It\u2019s very sad news,\u201d Plugge told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n

Confirming that some of the bikes had been found, Plugge said: \u201cI don’t know why they left these bikes, but we had several bikes being found again. So, that’s really good for us. But the reason why they left them behind, I don’t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s back-to-back break-ins at the Vuelta and Tour Poitou-Charentes are the latest examples of the seemingly growing threat of organised thieves, lured by the expensive bikes on show at cycling\u2019s biggest races, to the sport\u2019s professional teams.<\/p>\n

At this year\u2019s Tour de France, Cofidis were hit by a major break-in<\/a>, as 11 of team\u2019s Look 795 Blade RS bikes, totalling \u00a3125,000 and including a red-and-white polka dot-themed set-up for then-King of the Mountains leader Benjamin Thomas, were stolen from their mechanics\u2019 truck ahead of stage two.<\/p>\n

Lifeplus Wahoo\u00a0were\u00a0also rocked by the theft of all 14 bikes from a mechanics’ van at the 2024 Tour of Britain<\/a> in Wrexham.<\/p>\n

Riders completed the race on bikes kindly lent to them from other teams including SD Worx, Liv AlUla Jayco, Human Powered Health and Cofidis, the squad’s co-founder Bob Varney calling the break-in “an absolute hammer blow to our over-achieving team already on a stretched budget”.<\/p>\n

In March of last year, a group of thieves attempted to steal Bahrain-Victorious’ Merida bikes the night before Milan-Sanremo<\/a>, only to be thwarted by the team\u2019s bus driver and 2021 Paris-Roubaix winner Sonny Colbrelli.<\/p>\n

And in 2021, 22 bikes were stolen from the Italian track cycling team<\/a> during the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Roubaix, including Filippo Ganna’s gold-painted Pinarello.<\/p>\n

>\u00a0\u201cWe are dealing with organised crime\u201d: Lidl-Trek manager urges teams to \u201cfind a solution\u201d for bike raids by thieves at races<\/a><\/p>\n

Reflecting on these concerns on Monday, Visma CEO Plugge claimed that investment in security measures at races had fallen since his spell as president of the AIGCP teams\u2019 union, calling on teams to \u201cdo something ourselves\u201d to protect against similar raids.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was at the AIGCP, we always asked the organisers of the grand tours for security, special security around the hotels. But apparently it\u2019s not the case anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hotel did some work there, and they hired their own security. But to all the teams, I would say be very careful, because apparently the organisers do not organise it themselves. So now we need to do something ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other teams have also said this week that cycling\u2019s theft problem is now becoming too serious to ignore<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI think we\u2019re getting to a point where we\u2019ll need to hire real security guards at night, physical security,\u201d Lidl-Trek team boss Luca Guercilena said this week at the Vuelta.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that so many teams are staying in the same hotels, the damage can be huge, especially with equipment becoming more and more valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are dealing with organised crime here, we\u2019re not talking about people just snooping around. During winter training camps in Calpe, we hire security guards. But during stage races, we bring around 50 bikes, including time trial bikes. Not all of that can be stored inside the hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s just the bikes. There\u2019s so much more equipment that\u2019s incredibly valuable. We really need to find a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could have mechanics sleep inside the trucks, but that comes with serious risks,\u201d added Ineos Grenadiers sports director Christian Knees.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, it\u2019s just about stolen bikes, but you never know what could happen if someone\u2019s inside. Luckily, Visma still had enough bikes, and the cycling community really steps up in moments like this. Sometimes we hire security guards, and beyond that, all you can do is lock everything as well as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TotalEnergies have become the latest professional cycling team to fall victim to organised bike thieves, after 20 of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-99430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}